


Breathe Easy

by NamelesslyNightlock, Rabentochter



Series: This Was A Bad Idea (but we know what we're doing) [23]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Iron Man 1, Confused Tony Stark, Cuddling & Snuggling, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, Healing, Hospitals, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Injury, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) to the rescue, M/M, Protective Loki (Marvel), Relief, Romantic Fluff, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23427430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/pseuds/Rabentochter
Summary: After his escape, Tony was injured and alone– but when he wakes to the sound of his lover’s voice, he finds that he isn’t either.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: This Was A Bad Idea (but we know what we're doing) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1388356
Comments: 34
Kudos: 409





	Breathe Easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AeonTheDimensionalGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/gifts).



> WE HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A BRILLIANT BIRTHDAY, MANDY!!! 🎉❤️

Every inch of Tony’s body was soaked in pain, every step was a stumble.

It was hard enough to put one foot in front of the other when his head was spinning, when his vision blurred– let alone when every hard-fought inch felt gained only by torture. He was sure that something must be broken, though he wasn’t sure what. It just felt like the pain lanced through every corner and crevice he possessed, through everything that he was.

His skin was as dry and cracked as a riverbed, red and sore from the unrelenting heat of the sun. His mouth felt full of sand, as did his eyes– not that he would have been able to see anything regardless, for the desert reflected the light in a manner that was well beyond blinding.

Tony knew that he didn’t have long. He was already weakened, injured– _damaged._ The reactor in his chest was flickering with not much life left, even if every other factor were not taken into account. And add on to that his worrying lack of water and, well.

He didn’t have long at all.

Not that it mattered, really. Regardless of what happened now, Tony had still _won._ Even if he didn’t make it home, even if he died out here in this godforsaken desert– he’d still got fucking _out_ of that cave, he’d still burned the whole place to the ground.

He just wished that everyone else would _know_ it.

But… no, that wasn’t all, was it? Because he _did_ want to survive, because he’d _promised._ He’d sworn he wouldn’t waste what he had left, he’d sworn he’d get _back_ to the one he’d told Yinsen was his family. He needed… he _needed_ to get back.

But for that, it was looking more and more like he was going to have to conquer the impossible.

_Just one more step. One more. Only. One. More._

Tony swayed, teetering to the side and almost toppling over into the sand. He tried to shake his head, but that only made the dizziness worse. Then he stood still, eyes closed, hands clenched at his sides, just trying to maintain whatever little balance he had left. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, every _thump_ shaking him right to the bone—

_Wait._

Tony’s eyes opened, and he squinted up to the sky. Because that didn’t sound like a heartbeat, that sounded like—

“ _Anthony!”_

Cool hands burned like ice against his cracked skin, even the softest of touches enough for dry tears to scratch at his eyes. Tony tried to focus, but the world was still a blur, and it didn’t make a whole lot of sense as to how Loki could be holding him when the helicopter was still in the sky—

“Oh, thank the Norns, you’re alive, you’re here, you’re—”

“Loki?” Tony croaked–

“ _Anthony—”_

And Tony didn’t really remember falling over, but– he was quite sure that as he finally slipped into sweet darkness, his feet were no longer on the ground.

—~—

Tony woke to flashes– if it could truly be called waking at all. He was a little confused, more than a little dizzy. Something hurt, though he wasn’t sure what, and there were—

_People?_

Were they shouting?

Tony tried to move his head, to open his eyes, but he felt like his whole body was made of lead. There was no movement, none at all– and all he had to go on to try and discern what was _happening_ were the voices echoing around him, feeling loud and quiet and heavy as if they were spoken under water, and yet all too sharp at the same time.

“Prince Loki, you can’t be here! You need to leave—”

“I will _not—”_

“You must. Staying here will only cause your mortal more harm—”

But what Tony was hearing didn’t make any sense. Everything was dark, everything _hurt_ , everything felt like a bloody fucking mess—

And _Prince_ Loki?

Maybe… he was hearing things.

Didn’t make sense.

Didn’t…

At all.

—~—

The groan pulled from Tony’s throat entirely unbidden.

He hadn’t even properly woken, yet– the groan was the first thing he was aware of, as if the sound itself had been the thing to thrust him back into consciousness.

But as his mind shifted toward awareness, as the first groan turned into a second and his eyes blinked open to a bright, golden light, Tony became aware of something heavy on his arm. He tugged at it, for a moment, trying to work out what it might be.

An IV, perhaps?

Remembering what had happened – the torture, the cave, the landing, the desert, the _reactor –_ an IV seemed likely, and he was just about aware enough to remember not to pull on it.

He _did_ turn to look, though, blinking to try and clear some of the blurriness from his eyes.

But, oh—

It wasn’t an IV.

“Loki?”

Loki’s head jerked up from where it had been resting on Tony’s arm, his hand tightening around Tony’s fingers. He looked utterly _exhausted,_ his eyes bloodshot, his skin pale– and there was an interesting little smear along his temple in a colour that looked, familiar, and which immediately drew Tony’s curiosity.

“ _Anthony,”_ Loki groaned, reaching with his other hand to brush his fingers over Tony’s cheek in a feather-light touch. “Oh, thank the _Norns.”_

The break in Loki’s voice tugged at Tony’s damaged heart, and he tilted his head to lean into Loki’s touch.

“You’re all right,” Loki whispered, his gaze darting all over Tony’s face, as if he couldn’t quite believe it. “You’re _here.”_

Tony swallowed, not knowing what words to say. Mostly because he was entirely unsure where _here_ was, since… well.

It didn’t really look like any hospital he’d ever been in. His bed, for starters, was large and _comfortable–_ and there were no machines to be seen. It did have that air of organisation that suggested this wasn’t an ordinary bedroom, though– despite the golden hue of almost everything, the decorations were sparse, and the tables were—

Were, uh. Not actually touching the floor. Just, surfaces, that kind of, floated—

But they looked as mobile as wheeled tables nonetheless.

Uh.

“They would not allow me in here while they examined your chest,” Loki said, his voice drawing Tony back out of his thoughts. “They… they were not able to remove it entirely, but it should no longer pain you as it has been.”

Tony’s eyes widened, and he immediately lifted the blanket he was under to look down at his chest. Loki helped him, probably realising that do anything else wouldn’t stop Tony, would only make him more likely to do further injury to himself.

Though, weirdly– if he thought about it, Tony wasn’t actually hurting all that much. Huh.

As Tony’s gaze landed on his chest, his eyes widened in surprise. The skin around the reactor was smooth, not raised and red as it had been. The reactor itself, on the other hand, looked improved– the light a bit brighter, and the look of it a little less like it had been made with only scraps… but still as if someone had merely taken his design and cleaned it up a little. Even just looking at it now, Tony was sure he could do better.

And Tony realised with a sudden jolt—

That he could _breathe._ At least as well as he was able to before the shrapnel got him, if not even better. Jesus, he knew doctors were capable of working miracles these days but how they’d managed to help him breathe with that massive chunk of metal in his chest, he couldn’t even begin to fathom.

And, regardless, none of this helped Tony with his questions. If anything, it only gave him _more_.

But, uh. Maybe it was whatever drugs he was likely on, whatever it was that was keeping him from feeling all the pain that he _should_ be in– but despite everything, his gaze just kept flicking back to Loki’s face.

To his brow.

To that little smear of red that was still _there,_ still staining the pale skin at his temple.

“Anthony?”

Tony shook his head to try and clear it– but, nope, the stain didn’t vanish. He was almost about to reach out and touch it, but then Loki spoke again.

“I’m so sorry, Anthony. So very, very sorry.”

It was the brokenness that did it– the pure anguish in Loki’s tone which was so beyond anything that Tony had ever heard before, dragging Tony from his haze and back into reality.

“What are you sorry for?” he asked– and his voice was a little rough, but no more so than it usually was in the morning.

“I should have found you,” Loki rasped. “You were there, being tortured for _three months—”_

“No,” Tony said immediately– and, still doing his best to ignore the smear of red, he reached out with a trembling hand to cup Loki’s face. “ _No._ I know for sure you weren’t the only one looking, this is hardly all on you. I was in the middle of freaking _nowhere—”_

“I should have tried harder,” Loki cut in. “I should have– when Father and Heimdall refused my requests, I should have done something more, begged harder, _demanded_ that they help me find you. I should have– I could have—”

“If even JARVIS couldn’t find me, then I don’t know what your dad could have done,” Tony said warily.

Loki blinked at that, and he almost looked like he refocused on something. “Oh,” he said. “Of course.” His gaze flashed to Tony’s, and he appeared to be almost nervous about something. “Well… Anthony, do you remember when we met, you laughed that I had the same name as a pagan god?”

Tony frowned, and he was _this close_ to telling Loki that he wasn’t really in the mood for games. But then he saw the vulnerability in Loki’s expression, and then he had to swallow against the uncomfortable lump that formed in his throat.

“Loki, if you’re joking with me right now—”

“I assure you,” Loki swore. “I am one hundred per cent serious.”

Tony’s eyes widened, and his gaze darted back around the room, taking in the floating tables, the golden décor– the fact that he _was not in pain._

Oh.

_Fuck._

“You’re… this is…”

“Does it make a difference to you?” Loki asked, speaking quickly, a near-desperate gleam in his eyes. “Does it _matter?_ Because it doesn’t to me, it never has. I fell in love with you, Anthony– I am _in_ love with you, and I… these past months tore me apart. If you wish for me to leave, I will, but I swear to you… everything between us has been the truth.”

Tony thought about it for half a second, because yeah, finding out your boyfriend was actually a real-life god was a bit of a shock.

But…

Staring at the open emotion in Loki’s expression, at the pain, the relief, the _desperate hope—_

“No,” Tony said, sliding his hand over the mattress to curl his fingers around Tony’s. “Course it doesn’t. You’re still the same person you’ve always been, right? So… I still love you.”

Loki seemed to thaw at that, all the tension flowing out of him with a sound that was somewhere between a whine and a sigh.

Wordlessly, Tony gave Loki’s hand a tug, glad that the bed was easily large enough for them both.

He supposed. That the size of the bed. Made sense. Since Loki was a _Prince._ Amongst _gods._ Jesus Christ.

_Anyway._

It didn’t take much rearranging for them to curl together– they were so used to lying beside one another that their bodies fit together as if they were made to do so. Loki’s arms curled around Tony’s waist and he laid his head on Loki’s shoulder, and he smiled as he felt Loki press a kiss to the top of his head.

It felt perfect– it felt _right,_ and Tony knew he’d made the right choice. They might have a lot still to talk about, but for now? He was happy exactly where he was.

Well.

Except… for the one thing.

There was _one thing_ that was still bothering him—

And Tony couldn’t help but reach up with one hand to trail his fingers along the patch of dried blood smeared over Loki’s temple.

Loki froze, but he didn’t pull away– and Tony took that as permission to ask.

“So, uh. What… did you do to them?”

Loki considered him for a moment, as if judging how much he could say. But just as with the way they fit together, so _little_ had actually changed—

And it really was only a moment before Loki gave his answer.

“Let’s just say… that they will never be able to hurt you again.”

And while Tony would have _liked_ to hear the details, while he could have happily listened to Loki spell out every second of the pain he had likely put any allies of Tony’s tormentors through – every inch of the wrath of a _god –_ Tony really _was_ perfectly happy, and he still didn’t really feel like moving.

So, he tilted up his chin, and smiled as Loki obligingly leaned down to meet him in a soft kiss.

“Thank you,” Tony said, the words whispered against his lover’s lips.

“For you, Anthony?” Loki said, closing his eyes as he tightened his hold on Tony’s waist. “ _Anything.”_

And as Tony snuggled back down against Loki, warm and cared for– for the first time in months, he felt entirely and completely safe.

**Author's Note:**

> And Obadiah Stane is in Asgard’s dungeon of course. Loki’s just waiting for the right moment to mention it.  
>   
> You can find the gorgeous art for this fic on tumblr [here.](https://rabentochter.tumblr.com/post/614193520100753408/breathe-easy-with-quietlyapocalyptic-for)


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